


Taking a Chance

by natashasbanner



Series: Prompts [51]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-10 02:30:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16461737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashasbanner/pseuds/natashasbanner
Summary: Bruce contemplates his budding feelings for Natasha. Maybe this time he won't talk himself out of a good thing.From the prompt: Prompt - Bruce’s thoughts about why Nat wants him. In the first movie we thought she might be interested in Clint, in CAWS she’s flirty with Steve (as Bruce finds out in AOU) and Bruce wonders why she’d want to be with him/comparing himself to them etc?





	Taking a Chance

**Author's Note:**

> This one kind of got away from me and wavers from the prompt, but it's still good I think. Please enjoy :D

Natasha was a mystery. 

 

Bruce scoffed at the thought and how ridiculous it sounded even in his own head. Natasha was a mystery, that was a given. It was what she did, who she was. The Black Widow was made to be a ghost, to fade seamlessly into the shadows of society. 

 

But that’s not what Bruce meant. Natasha’s presence had become a fixture in his day to day life since the first couple tentative months after they all started living in the tower. Well, Bruce lived there and Natasha drifted in and out irregularly but when she was there she always seemed to find him. 

 

It was odd at first, when Natasha appeared in his lab one morning. 

* * *

It was early, far too early for any sensible person to be awake. Of course it had been quite some time since Bruce considered himself a sensible person so after making a quick stop in the kitchen for a cup of tea, he shuffled into his lab before the sun began to peak over the tops of the buildings.

 

An orange glow spilled in through the floor to ceiling windows, casting a shadow over Bruce’s lab. The lights came on automatically when Bruce walked in and when he saw the figure sitting in the corner he nearly dropped his mug. It only took him a moment to realize who it was sitting on one of his counters, a leg swinging back and forth over the side. 

Natasha turned her head to look at him and Bruce felt his heart rate return to normal momentarily before his nerves spiked again for an entirely different reason. Tony said she finally  moved into the suite he’d set up for her a few weeks ago, but Bruce hadn’t seen much of her except in passing. Why was she waiting in his lab in the dark, now that set his nerves on edge. 

 

“Agent Romanoff,” Bruce greeted warily, walking over to set his mug down on the workbench in the center of the room. 

 

“Doctor Banner,” she said, nodding in his direction. She turned her head to look back out the window that looked out over the impressive living space. 

 

Bruce waited, hoping she would give him some clue as to why she was there, but she just sat there quietly. He stood, wringing his hands together for several long moments before deciding to just go about his own business and eventually she’d just leave or tell him why she was there. 

With a sigh, Bruce powered up his screens and pulled his glasses out of his shirt pocket and got to work. He and Tony were doing a complete overhaul of the team’s suits and weapon’s. They were currently working on agent Barton’s arrowheads. The SHIELD issued heads were state of the art, but Tony thought they could use his arc reactor technology to pack a bigger punch. Barton was all for it and they were getting close to having a testable prototype. They’d already created a return system for Cap’s shield, the drones for Tony’s “Iron Legion”, and the “Hulk-proof” pants that would keep Bruce from waking up naked.

 

Bruce let the work pull him in, losing himself in the schematics and the math that he almost forgot that he wasn’t the only one in lab. It wasn’t until Natasha had abandoned her perch near the window to stand across the workbench from him. He looked up from the tablet he had laid flat on the table to check something on the schematic and nearly fell backwards when he saw her standing there. 

 

“Sorry, Doc,” she said, her eyes never leaving the screen over the work table. 

 

“I hope you’re not planning on making that a habit,” he said, taking off his glasses. He set them down beside the tablet. 

 

“I didn’t think anyone else would be awake yet,” she admitted, meeting Bruce’s eyes. She nodded at the screen. “These for Barton?” 

 

“Yes,” Bruce answered, turning it slightly so she could get a better look. “This one will work like a taser.” 

 

Natasha smirked. “Cool, he’ll like those.” 

 

“Tony wants to test it tomorrow with a few of the other prototypes, if you wanted to see them in action,” Bruce offered. He didn’t know why he felt the need to invite her to the tests and it surprised him how much he wanted her to come. 

 

“If I’m still around tomorrow, I’ll think about it.” 

 

That was probably the best answer he could have expected. Bruce was at a loss for what else to say and they lapsed into silence. Bruce looked back down at his tablet and flipped aimlessly through the calculations before looking back over at Natasha. 

 

He caught her shifting her weight from one foot to the other and noticed her wince. It was suddenly clear to him why she’d taken up residence in his lab. 

 

“How bad is it?” he asked, looking her over for obvious signs on injury. 

 

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him, but he stared back at her, unwavering. 

She rolled her eyes, but gestured vaguely toward her ribcage. “It’s just a graze, but it took a while to stop bleeding. Can you tell me if I need stitches or not?” 

 

“Sure,” he agreed, waving her over to his side of the table. 

 

“Thanks, Doc.” 

 

Bruce chuckled as he pulled out a stool for her and turned to wash his hands in the sink in the corner. When he turned back around, Natasha was sitting in the stool and had her shirt pulled up to reveal thick white gauze taped to her ribs. There was a dark red stain across it, outlining the wound. 

 

When he was close enough her bent down to get a better look. He peeled back a corner of the bandage and took in the long thin gash. 

 

“What do you think?” she asked when he started prodding the skin around the wound. 

 

Bruce straightened up and secured the tape back against her skin. 

 

“You do realize I’m not actually a medical doctor, right?” he asked raising his eyebrow with a slight smirk. 

 

“I’m not a fan of hospitals,” she countered easily. “You’re the next best thing. Do I need stitches?”

 

“No,” Bruce shook his head and moved back over to the sink. “You should heal up just fine. I’d change that bandage though.” 

 

Natasha fixed her shirt and hopped down from the stool. She smiled at Bruce as she passed him on the way to door. 

 

“Thanks.” 

 

She hovered in the doorway for a moment before turning back to Bruce. “Let me know when you test the arrowheads.” 

 

“Of course.” 

* * *

Bruce had been shocked when she actually showed up to test the arrowheads with Barton, even shot a few herself. He saw a lot more of her after that day. She spent a lot of time in his lab, just sitting in the corner quietly, and sometimes she would ask questions and allow him to bounce ideas off when the tablet and screens weren’t enough.

 

A tentative trust blossomed between them and their relationship grew from there. She even let him and Tony take a whack at her suit. Under her strict supervision of course, but Bruce suspected it was just an excuse to spend more time in his lab. 

 

It puzzled Bruce more than anything that she seemed to gravitate toward him of all people and he felt an undeniable pull toward her as well. He hadn’t expected it, but she was really funny and had him in stitches more often than not. She still disappeared without a word for days at a time and despite his instincts telling him not to get too attached, he missed her. A lot. 

 

It was ridiculous, a school yard crush that he tried to ignore most of the time, but then he would find her sitting in his lab or waiting with tea early in the morning when everyone else was still sleeping. 

 

Natasha was beautiful and Bruce wasn’t blind. And he found it hard to believe that his attraction would ever be anything more than one sided. There were times when he thought maybe there was something there, but he shook them off as his own wishful thinking. Why would she choose him when Steve and Clint were around. 

 

It was stupid, childish even to compare himself to the others, but that didn’t stop the tendrils of jealousy to creep up on him from time to time. Steve and Clint were Natasha’s friends, and that was it. She made that very clear one day when they were relaxing on the balcony overlooking the city. He’d made a comment about Tony thinking that she and Clint were together or had been in the past and she’d wasted no time setting him right. 

 

Bruce remembered a flutter of something he hadn’t felt in a very long time when she smiled at him that night. And as much as he tried to push his feelings away, keep them tucked in the little boxes in the back of his mind, they always resurfaced eventually and left him longing for things he couldn’t have. He’d destroyed any chance he’d had at a “normal” life and accepted that. 

 

She’d been gone for almost two weeks this time, twelve days to be exact. The one time he managed to sleep in long after the sun came up, he wandered into his kitchen to find a pastry bag from his favorite bakery and a note that said “when I get back we’ll go out for fresh ones”. It put a smile on his face for the rest of the day, so much that Tony wouldn’t leave him alone about it for four days after. 

 

As the days wore on, Bruce got more anxious for her return. After the first few days he’d started watching the elevator when he was in the lab. He had a pretty decent view if he worked with his back to the living area. Tony commented on it after the third day, but Bruce brushed him off with an excuse about needing a change in scenery. Tony didn’t buy it for a minute, but didn’t bring it up again. Though Bruce did get the feeling that he was being watched after that. 

 

A knock on the glass caught his attention and he blinked a few times to clear his head and look up at Tony standing in the doorway that separated their labs.

 

“I’m headed out,” he said nodding his head toward his own darkened lab. 

 

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows, so lost in thought he hadn’t even noticed Tony close up shop for the night. 

 

“Alright,” Bruce nodded and took off his glasses to rub his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

 

“You sure you don’t want to come out to dinner?” Tony asked for what was probably the fifth time since he and Pepper made plans to go out since she was in town. 

 

Bruce sighed and tilted his head. “I already I told you, I don’t want to be your third wheel. Go, I’ll be fine here.” 

 

Tony didn’t say anything, just stared at Bruce for an uncomfortably long minute before shaking his head. 

 

“Don’t stay up all night waiting for her again, alright.” He said and turned to leave before Bruce had a chance to argue. 

 

But they both knew whatever excuse he came up with was a lie. He just sighed and looked down at his lap. When he looked back up, the elevator doors were closing on Tony. Bruce let out a breath and decided to wrap things up for the night as well. 

 

He took his time saving his notes and powering everything down, unable to help looking out toward the elevators. He vaguely wondered how long it would take for him to kick the habit once Natasha returned or if he’d spend the rest of their time at the tower worriedly watching the elevator if she was gone for more than a few days at a time. 

 

When he couldn’t think of anymore reasons to linger in his lab, Bruce took off his glasses and turned off the overhead lights. He started toward the elevators before deciding to take a short detour to the kitchen for the Chinese takeout leftovers from the night before.

 

The light in the kitchen was on when Bruce walked around the corner. He stopped a moment, confused because Clint left that morning for who knows where, Steve was off with Sam, and Thor had been in Europe with Jane for months. That left only one person with access to their floors of the tower. 

 

Bruce hurried picked up the pace and stopped short in the doorway. Natasha was sitting at the island in leggings and a sweatshirt, eating the leftovers he’d been gunning for. He looked her over, relieved to see her back in one piece. From what he could see, she didn’t have any serious injuries, just a few scrapes and bruises that would be gone in a few days. There was an unnatural lump poking up from the shoulder of her sweatshirt that looked like an ice pack, but that was it. 

 

“Are you just going to stand there?” she asked suddenly, not looking up from his carton of lo mein. 

 

The sound of her voice woke him up and shuffled the rest of the way to the island across from her. He reached over to take the untouched carton of General Tso’s chicken that Tony just picked at the night before and grabbed a fork from the drawer. 

 

“When did you get back?” He asked, opening the carton and digging in. 

 

She shrugged. “Last night,” she said and took another bite of his lo mein. “Well, three this morning.” 

 

Bruce nodded and watched her finish off the rest of the lo mein and start to eye his carton. She reached across the island with her chopsticks, but Bruce shook his head and pulled it out of her reach. 

 

“I don’t think so,” he said. “You already ate my noodles.” He stuck his fork in the carton and took a big bite to prove his point.  He wasn’t sharing. 

 

Natasha raised her eyebrow and smirked at him, but backed off when she realized he was serious. 

 

“Fine,” she sighed and set down her chopsticks. “I’ll order my own.” 

 

She picked up her phone and Bruce saw her pull up the number for their usual takeout place.  

 

“Good,” he said and set down Tony’s cold chicken. “I’ll take more lo mein.” 

 

“That’s fair,” she agreed and hit call. 

 

While she was on the phone, Bruce cleaned up the empty containers that she finished off and put Tony’s back in the fridge. 

 

By the time Bruce was done, Natasha had hung up and was watching him. He could only hold her gaze a few seconds before it became too much and he averted his eyes. His eyes drifted to the lump over her shoulder and saw that it was dripping down her arm. 

 

“What happened to your shoulder?” he asked. 

 

Natasha pulled the ice pack out through the neck of her hoodie and tossed it into the sink beside Bruce. 

 

“I dislocated it, but it’s fine now,” she said. “And the food will be here in an hour.” 

 

“I take it that didn’t come from a medical professional?” Bruce asked. 

 

“It’s not the first time, I handled it,” she shrugged, but Bruce caught her wince a little. 

 

“Okay.” Bruce looked down at his hands and when he looked back up she had her head propped up in her hand, her eyelids drooping. “Have you slept?” 

 

She sucked in a breath and nodded. “A little, here and there all day.” 

 

“You were gone a long time,” he said, running his fingers along the edge of the counter. 

 

Natasha tilted her head, her lips quirked up in a small smile. “This job wasn’t a simple as I thought it’d be.” 

 

“Wanna talk about it?” he tried, but as he expected she shook her head immediately. 

 

“I just need a hot meal and to sleep for a few days,” she promised. “It’s good to be back.” 

 

“I’m glad you’re back,” Bruce admitted. The words fell out of his mouth without much thought and once they were out in the open he didn’t want to take them back. 

 

For months he’d been trying to decide if her advances were genuine and if they were, how he felt about her. In six months and half a dozen missions looking for Loki’s scepter Bruce found that he’d started to care for Natasha, deeply. But life taught him that when things started to look up for him, the universe threw him a curveball. His brain created the competition in Steve and Clint that didn’t exist, for example. 

 

Time and time again, Natasha sought him out and spent time with him and Bruce thought it was time to do something about it. He decided to let himself see where this might go, to enjoy this while it was good, before everything inevitably fell apart. 

 

He watched her eyes soften before her gaze dropped to the counter. She bit her lip and looked back up through her lashes. 

 

“Did you like the muffin I left for you?” she asked. 

 

“I did, thank you.” He smiled, and drummed his fingers against the counter. “I also got your note.” 

 

Natasha raised her eyebrows, but stayed quiet. She made the first move and the ball was in his court so to speak. If he wanted this to progress any further, he had to speak up. And Bruce was ready to do just that. 

 

“Does your offer still stand?” he asked. “When you’re up for it?” 

 

“Of course,” she said, her small smile morphing into a blinding grin. “Friday, you and me. Bright and early.” 

 

“Sounds perfect.” 

 

“Good.” She winked and pushed away from the island. “I’m going downstairs to wait for the food.” 

 

“Want some company?” 

 

“I wouldn’t be opposed.” 

 

Bruce rounded the island to her side and held out his arm for her. She chuckled and shook her head, but slipped her good arm through his. Her skin was warm through the thin hoodie and his stomach fluttered happily. He made the right choice. 


End file.
